


Do You Want Me to Leave?

by CherieoftheDragons (SignCherie)



Series: Fritzgerald Aiden Leverton [2]
Category: Cinderella Phenomenon (Visual Novel)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21686203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SignCherie/pseuds/CherieoftheDragons
Summary: When Fritz wakes up in a cold sweat, Lucette is there to comfort him.Post Fritz's route.
Relationships: Lucette Riella Britton/Fritzgerald Aiden Leverton
Series: Fritzgerald Aiden Leverton [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567594
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Do You Want Me to Leave?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Trulycertain's prompt: "Do you want me to leave?"

_“Lucette!”_

Fritz bolted upright, sweating, shaking, clutching his chest, eyes squeezed shut as he struggled for breath. Where was he? What had happened?

“I'm here,” came her voice. “I’m safe. We are both safe.”

A small, soft hand touched his arm, and he grasped at it instinctively. Slowly, he allowed his eyes to open.

Oh. Lucette’s room in the palace. He was in her bed, and although he didn’t dare look, he could feel her presence at his side. 

_Lucette. Lucette._

Carefully, she wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. “It was just a nightmare.”

No. Not just a nightmare. Fragments of memory of his time as Varg had swirled in his head, tormenting him in what should be his hours of peace. It was all too reminiscent of what had happened in the past, in those days when sleep turned him into the villain he feared above all.

Lucette must fear him, too. After everything he’d done — how could she look at him and not see Varg? How could she stand to be in his presence?

“I’m sorry,” he choked out.

“Don't be ridiculous. Sorry for a dream?”

“Not the dream…”

She nuzzled her face against his neck, then spoke in a firm voice. “Enough.”

Fritz tried to calm his shuddering breath, but terror gripped him tight. He didn’t belong here. His presence at her side would always be a reminder of the horrors she’d gone through, of everything she’d lost. She was so much more than he could ever deserve, and there was nothing he could possibly do to change that.

Screwing up all his courage, he forced out the words he knew he should say. “Do you want me to leave?”

“...Leave? Where would you go in the middle of the night?”

“No.” He took a deep breath. “I mean… leave.”

A pause, and then her sharp voice cut through the silence. “What?”

“I can’t… Lucette, you deserve… if I care about you, I know I should leave you…”

The very thought tore him apart. Another shudder went through him, and he felt his body close in on itself, as if to protect him from the rejection that ought to come.

Next to him, Lucette stiffened. Her warmth left him as she pulled away.

No. Oh, no. She was letting him go. He deserved it, he knew he did, but somehow he hadn’t believed she would really…

“Fritzgerald Aiden Leverton. Don’t you dare do anything so selfish.”

…What? 

Shock struck him dumb. For the first time since waking, his eyes swung in her direction, and he drank in the sight of her face. Her golden eyes were narrowed in fury, but the tears that threatened to spill from them were impossible to hide.

“Lucette.” Her name fell from his lips in a whispered breath.

“You promised to protect me.” She lifted her chin in defiance. “Are you my knight or not?”

His answer was immediate and instinctive. “I am.”

“Are you?”

“Always.” He couldn’t be anything else.

Her fiery glare could have melted ice. “And yet you talk of leaving me.”

Once more, he was speechless.

“Selfish. I never thought you could be so selfish.”

She was right. He knew it in an instant. He was thinking of himself, of assuaging his own guilt, and not of what she needed. For some unfathomable reason, Lucette loved him. She’d given him the gift of her heart. It was his duty now to care for it, and no one could take that from him. No one else would ever have that privilege.

The haze of the dream was lifting slowly, and his mind became clearer every moment. Varg may never be gone, but what was left of the wolf had melted back into Fritz’s soul. The only thing he could do now was to use Varg’s strength and love, to turn it from a weapon into a shield. That was the fitting end to this all. It was what Varg would have wanted, and what Lucette would want as well.

“Forgive me, my love.” Fritz reached for her, pulling her into his arms, and with a sigh, the tension left her. She melted into his embrace, pressing herself close.

“Don't say anything like that again.”

“I won’t.”

She buried her face against his chest, and when she spoke again, it was a quiet murmur. “I have lost too much. I will not lose you.”

“I promise.” Guilt at his own words wracked his heart. Wanting to comfort her in whatever way he could, he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Forgive me, my princess. I lost myself for a moment. But now I’m back, and you have my word that I will never leave you.”

She was silent in his arms. Then, after a few moments, she lifted her head, tilting it towards his.

An invitation if he ever saw one, and not one he could ignore. He closed the distance between them, brushing his lips against hers in a gentle caress. The small sound she made started a flame in his heart, and he couldn’t resist deepening the kiss, moving his lips against hers with increasing urgency. 

She was the one to pull away first, stopping his attempt to reclaim her lips with a hand over his mouth. When he furrowed his brow, a question in his eyes, she looked down and bit her lip.

“It is not your fault. What was done to you. What you did as Varg.”

Her words took him aback. “Princess—”

“Yes, I know that Varg is a part of you. But he was forced into an impossible situation, just as you were. So…” She lifted her eyes to his. “I do not blame you. I never have. And I do not want you to blame yourself.”

With a sigh, Fritz pulled her closer, resting his head against her shoulder and letting her words sink into his being. This wasn’t the first time she’d told him this, but every time she said it, his heart grew lighter. That anyone had once thought this woman incapable of good deeds seemed a laughable delusion. She had a soul far kinder and more forgiving than her demeanor revealed, with more love to give than anyone knew.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

Learning not to blame himself would take time. He might never accomplish it, not fully. But for now, knowing that Lucette forgave him, that she wanted him to forgive himself, that was enough. That would get him through.

“Fritz.”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

His arms tightened around her. “I love you, too, Lucette. I’ll stay with you forever.”

Together, they nestled back into the sheets, and before he knew it, Fritz had dropped into a deep, peaceful sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please consider leaving an encouraging comment!


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